‘Awful’ claims against Louis C.K.

COMEDIAN Louis C.K has repeatedly masturbated in front of a number of his female associates, it is alleged in a bombshell New York Times article published today.

TheTimes piece acknowledges the "years of unsubstantiated rumours about Louis C.K. masturbating in front of associates," and has five women go on the record for the first time to detail their alleged experiences.

A Chicago comedy duo, Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, allege they were invited to Louis C.K.'s hotel room for a nightcap during a 2002 Colorado comedy festival. The pair assumed the meeting would be "collegial."

Louis C.K. performs on stage. Picture: Andrew Toth/FilmMagic

Once inside his hotel room, the women say C.K. asked if he could take out his penis. They laughed it off as a joke.

"And then he really did it," Goodman told the New York Times.

"He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating."

A year later, comedian Abby Schnacher called C.K. to invite him to one of her stand-up sets, and said she could hear him masturbating during the phone call.

Another comedian, Rebecca Corry, said C.K. asked her if he could masturbate in front of her while they were both appearing in a 2005 TV pilot. When she angrily declined, reminding him that he had a daughter and pregnant wife, Corry says C.K. sheepishly told her he had "issues."

Others in the industry have come forward to support the women's claims: Friends star Courteney Cox and then-husband David Arquette were the executive producers on the pilot, and confirmed Corry's story.

Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston

"What happened to Rebecca on that set was awful," Cox said in an email to the New York Times, adding that she felt "outrage and shock."

Fellow comic Tig Notato has also spoken out about C.K., who she has worked with in the past and who released her 2012 comedy album. She now says she thinks "he released my album to cover his tracks," she said. "He knew it was going to make him look like a good guy, supporting a woman."

"Sadly, I've come to learn that Louis C.K.'s victims are not only real," she said in email, "but many are actual friends of mine within the comedy community."

Notaro confirmed that Goodman and Wolov were two female comics who'd confided in her about their experience with C.K.

The comedian's publicist, Lewis Kay, told the New York Times that his client would not respond to any allegations.

The New York premiere of C.K.'s new film, the already controversial I Love You Daddy, was abruptly cancelled in the hours before the article went live - and he also cancelled a planned appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to promote the film.

The 50-year-old comic has become one of Hollywood's most respected comedians in the past decade, earning widespread critical praise for his HBO series Louie. C.K.'s acclaimed stand-up routines often include graphic descriptions of his own sexual hang-ups and encounters.

As rumours have swirled about alleged sexual misconduct in recent years, C.K. has denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

"They're rumors, that's all that is," he said in a September interview, explaining he preferred to stay silent rather than address the allegations.

"If you actually participate in a rumor, you make it bigger and you make it real," he said.